Refinishing old snare

[Bafke]

Hi all

My old Stagg drumkit is just sitting there nowadays, stored away and not being used.
Since I can't find a buyer willing to pay a decent price for it, I decided to just keep it and do with it what I want.

Today I took the old 14" snare, stripped it, removed the wrap, and now I'm ready to sand it down.
I'm going to spraypaint it white, to match my current kit. I'm not sure if I will paint the hardware too, I guess I'll see how I do with the body itself before attempting to paint the hardware.
When the refinishing is done, I'm going to replace the batter head with a mesh head, to trigger the snare.

I have no idea what sort of wood it is bytheway. My first drum teacher suggested this kit to me, I payed €500 for it, way too much! However, the teacher is your god when you're starting out, I didn't know...

Anyways, here are some pics, it DID happen! (Sorry for the quality, took the pictures with my mobile phone)

The original state of the snare: (with a Remo emperror X batter head)

[Bafke]

The awesome black plastic wrap finishing!


I didn't really care about nicely loosening the wrap to protect the wood, since I'm triggering it the sound doesn't matter.


It's green! And no, not because of the glue (they used glue strips as you can see in the previous pic). Only one side is green like this though, the other side is nice and bright.




I'll keep you updated when I make more progress.


If it works out the way I want it to, I might do the same to the rest of the 5-piece.

If anyone has any valuable tips, please share them!

[yohin]

Cool...can't wait to see it when it's finished!

[markthechuck]

look forwaRD to the final outcome.

[john gerrard]

If I were you I would really not try to paint the hardware. The paint will chip in a heart beat. If you can find someone local who can power coat it that would be the best way to go. Good luck on refinishing your drums. Remember the secret to a good finish is a good prep job before you start to refinish. John

[backtodrum]

Sand it down smooth and then get some Sanding Sealer to seal the grain before you paint it.

I agree make sure you seal it first or you will be really unhappy with the outcome of the finish.

[Bafke]

Thank you all for the advice and support.

I'm going to the local DIY-store in a moment, I'm going to pick up some primer/sanding sealer and the paint, together with some decent sand paper.

[Bafke]

Got back from the DIY-store, bought some sand paper and a spray white primer and a spray white paint.

The primer is on:



There is still some dust involved, but when the primer is dry I'm going to sand it really gently.


The primer should be dry in about 2 hours, but I'm going to leave it at this because we have a gig to play.

I'l continue work tomorrow!

[Bafke]

Ok, I decided to redo the entire kit.

After applaying a layer of paint to the snare, I stripped the basdrum today

Original:


Hidden under the wrap...

Shell quality sucks really hard!

There you go, one stripped basdrum. (Mind the shell quality)



I'm going to start sanding the basdrum tomorrow.

Since the wood is in pretty bad shape, the finish won't look as I had hoped it would, but it will still be an improvement compared to the old wrap, wich was coming loose and forming air pockets.
If I would find a glossy white wrap for cheap, I might redo the finish again, for now this will do though.

[Bafke]

Yes, but shipping is at least $45, for one sheet.
I live in Europe...

[Bafke]

Okay, the snare is finished!


Before:




After:


Just for the picture I put the remo head back on, I'm going to replace that head with a mesh head, probably even a DIY mesh head (I've found some treasures of sites, really giving me alot of motivation and fun projects

I really hate that 4-pictures (including smileys) limit!

[Bafke]

I've prepared the drum for the installation of the triggers, but I'm still trying to figure out what kind of triggers I'm going to use:


I've muted the bottom head by putting some foam between the snares and the head. The muting is not really necessary, but at least the snares and the snare hardware still have a function this way


Finish detail:


I'm really happy with the outcome. I had expected the surface to be evenly covered in glossy white, but the actual result isn't bad either.
I'm happy!


I've started work on my 12" racktom too, it is now fully stripped and ready to be sanded.

[Bafke]

Just removed the head and installed a home-made mesh head. Super silent, and a great feel!



Man, I used to hate this kit because of the way it sounded and looked.

Up until now, I've only spent about €15 on the paint and sandpaper, all of the other stuff I just had laying around. I'll have to spend a little more on more paint and the triggers (and the trigger brain), but if I'm lucky with the triggers, I've got my electric 5-piece for less then €250! :D

And I will love this kit once again!

(For who is interested: for the mesh head I used the ring of the old stock heads from this kit (removed the actual skin from the head) and on that ring I sewed a piece of high quality, heavy fabric.)

[Bafke]

Some more developements:

Mesh close-up:


The mounting system for the triggers:


The mesh heads (exepct the 16"):


The finished basdrum:


All other pictures to be found here: CLICK

[yohin]

Looks like it's coming along great, Bafke! I actually really like the look of that bass drum with the black hoops against the white finish.

[Bafke]

I waited to repaint the hoops, because I would need another type of paint to do them, and, it might not even be necessary. I agree it doesn't look too bad. I'm going to keep it like this.